Great sites if you are interested in the individuals who gave their lives during the two World Wars.

Roxburgh

I recently found my Grandfather's War Medal Record on Ancestry. I also found my Great Grandfather Julius Cesar Buchan's entry. He died during the First World War age 34 on 28th August 1915.

I inherited my Dad's Second World War medals recently. They aren't the originals as they were destroyed some years ago. Nevertheless I will be keeping them and won't be selling them at any time. However that is not to say that I disagree with Ian collecting medals. Some years ago I bought a medal at the Barras. It is better that someone who is interested in keeping these medals does so rather than being forgotten about and discarded.

i have been reading these postings about medals and badges with interest. I too have quite a collection of both medals and badges, from both the Great War and WWII . I had my Grandfather's two general service medals from the Great War and gave them to my grandson; my wife had her uncle's great War medals and she gave them to our granddaughter. The Great War medals are a wee bit more interesting since they bear the name and rank of the person to whom they were originally given, as well as being of a much better quality metal.

I can understand a need arising in a family to sell the medals. I recall a Scottish sapper by the name of Rennie, i think it was, and he was looking for a buyer for his George Medal. This medal was not one of the general service types, but rather, one of the rare and valuable types. A medal like this would fetch I'd guess, at least £10,000. Rennie got his for the bomb-disposal work he did during the blitz in London . Anyway, he lived in London at the time he was trying to sell his medal and an attempt was being made to help him so that he didn't have to sell his medal, but i don't know what became of this effort.

Of course there is nothing intrinsically wrong in collecting medals and I can also understand why some have a need to sell them. I just find it somewhat unfortunate that the symbol of what these men and women went through has become a marketable commodity.

Hello Roxburgh,and all,I think I got of on the wrong foot the other day,some of the stories I have heard over the years are terrible and we have to buy stuff like medals plaques etc,I have bought medals from people who say they dont mean a thing to me or Ive no one to leave them to and a lot of other stuff Ive been given medals for that reason,and no I dont think I would sell them but as long as someone owns them they will be remembered not for just their monitary value,most VCs get sold to individuals or to company museums so that they are looked after,A good and great thing so our future generations can see them.On that note the United Kingdom and its commonwealth was the only one to mark the medals to the individual involved that is what makes them all the more interesting as well,and the vast majority of our glorious dead did not get to hold or wear their medals,so in the meantime we will look after them, for them.Stricky.

Regarding this old post of mine below, I received a PM from HG member Rab with the following info (thanks to him for letting me repeat it here).

Hello there, Just thought you might be interested in knowing that in the pic you put on the site of the HLI memorial in glasgow is my Great Grandmother, she unveiled the plaque as my great grandfather Pte Andrew watson was her husband and the first man in the 15th to be killed in France in 1916 at the Somme. I actually have the book with the original picture in it along with my great grandads and my grandads medals which I have framed and hang proudly at home, my son (Andrew) carried them in the remembrtance day march which is very big here in Australia. Hope you have a nice day. Rab McQuarrie in Australia.

glasgowken wrote:James Dalrymple (right) in 1933, attending the unveiling of the GCT memorial at their HQ in Bath Street (now in the Transport Museum). He was General Manager of GCT during the WW1 years, and the person who did the most to raise the 15th Battalion HLI (The Tramway Battalion).

Roxburgh wrote:Of course there is nothing intrinsically wrong in collecting medals and I can also understand why some have a need to sell them. I just find it somewhat unfortunate that the symbol of what these men and women went through has become a marketable commodity.

I've seen the USSR medal for the defence of Stalingrad for sale for about £20. What that person went through to earn it does not bear thinking about.

Just a word about medal collecting, I guess we could be critical of the sale of just about any old personal item. I'd love to know more about the former owners of the stuff in my collection but sadly I only know the history of a couple of items.Some recipients of medals simply don't have family to pass them along to, or perhaps no one who's interested, what then ? The vast majority of collectors collect out of interest, not financial gain, at least in a collection they will be treated with care and respect.

Hello again been workin away.Glasgowken your right I collect and repair,one war medal I got this week had a snapped of suspender from a man KIA in dec 1914 it came with a photograph of him and his wife and two children,How can things like that be tossed out.Stricky.

A total of 367 men from the North British Locomotive Company were killed in the first world war one. A large memorial window commemorating this loss was installed in the administration building of the North British Locomotive Company, along with a large bronze plaque listing the names. The window was unveiled by the Prince of Wales on 9 March 1921.

The window originally faced outwards into the quadrangle, but in 1997 was taken out and refurbished, then reinstalled facing into the entrance hallway, overlooking the grand staircase.

Three main figures are depicted: a man at an anvil, a Scottish soldier, and a woman at a lathe, symbolising women's work in the 'Mons' and 'Marne' munitions factories of the Atlas Works.

Nice post HH, I attended Springburn College as it was when I was serving my time and have attended the annual Remembrance Day service a few times there.

Another Springburn memorial is the altar in Lodge Kenmuir in Vulcan Street.

I've been working on a project to try and find out more about the names on the altar, and try and find out where they served and died and where they may be buried or marked on other memorials. You can imagine my surprise then to discover that James Haldane is buried in Bothwell Cemetery!

Alex Glass wrote:Outstanding yet again HH. You must have been very busy.

I have been meaning to go to the Cathedral to take pics of the memorials there for sometime but never got round to it.

The face of the sculpture looks like an angel. So many names. So many young lives taken in so many wars. Just wanted to thank you for photographing all these memorials. I come back here every so often to thank my lucky stars that my son does not have to give his life.

Thanks,Wish more people would remember and show respect for those who have sacrificed.K

"...if I don't make haste, I shall have to go back through the looking-glass...back into the old room-and there'd be an end of all my adventures!"